Reflections: Remoteness
As our world is increasingly peppered with noise - be it political tension, strife, cruelties, the rigors of work, societal obligations, and other countless stressors - travel can be the perfect antidote for divorcing oneself and getting away from it all.
"In an age of acceleration, nothing is so cherished as slowness." - Pico Iyer.
And after all, our world also hosts magnificent, isolated getaways, both near and far. This week, we are all about Remoteness. As the busyness of summer comes to an end, we are craving space and an escape from the frenzy. Whether it is finding solace in the nature of our own backyards, or flying to remote oceanic islands or the poles, travellers are looking to go further and further in their adventures. For some, its all about the journey - the harder it is to get to, the more appealing it is. While icons like the Eiffel Tower and Canals of Venice were once the exotic lures of the early jet-age, newer generations have redefined the exotic to include less visited destinations like the Falkland Islands, Azerbaijan, São Tomé, and the deep Amazon.
Visionary entrepreneurs are using the power of place to bring isolated communities back to life using incredible architecture and majestic experiences to tempt those looking for a remote sojourn. For this feature, we recently traveled to Newfoundland on the distant edges of the North American continent, only to learn that our good friends were also there visiting, and upon our return, that our neighbors had also just been. Such is the nature of access and the trajectory of the well-travelled: to see every corner of our beautiful Earth. We are in an age of re-newed discovery with the temptation of remoteness – its intensity, its silence, its emptiness, its offering of space, its badge of exclusivity – that sets a new standard for escape in our ever-frenzied and hierarchical world.
In this edition, we explore architecturally-forward remote hotel icons in Fogo Island and Ecuador, a farm-to-table lunch in Cuba’s Viñales Valley, a hidden-gem stop over in Fiji – and as we travel back in time, we reveal our original bucket list inspiration for remote destinations, and a distant journey sailing on a houseboat in Southern India some 19 years ago.
Photo Credit: Syllogi (Falkland Islands)
